


The Give

by cl0wnf11sh



Category: Stardew Valley (Video Game)
Genre: Aging, F/F, Future Fic, Gen, Other, Teenage Rebellion, Trans Female Character, Young Love
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-10-20
Updated: 2017-10-04
Packaged: 2019-01-09 01:48:27
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,263
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12266409
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cl0wnf11sh/pseuds/cl0wnf11sh
Summary: Who will run my family businessI leave it mostly unfinishedwhy, why can't I?My oldest is getting marriedmy youngest can barely bare mealiveor,Five years after the Farmer moves to town, Shane's finally happy, Marnie's getting older, and Jas is finding solace in a best friend.





	The Give

Marnie's not as young as she used to be. Her back aches when she gets up in the morning, and she gets tired working on the farm faster then she remembers. She's seen gray starting to pepper her brown hair, and the faint crow's feet against her eyes are getting more pronounced. She knows she still looks young for a woman her age, but it weighs on her mind whenever she has a moment of peace.

To make matters worse, Jas is.. well, exhibiting all the normal behavior of a teen. She's reclusive, always staying tucked away in her room or out causing trouble with her friend Vincent, and she's developed the bewildering idea that Marnie cannot and will never understand anything that goes on in her head. She nearly wants to agree, sometimes, but mostly it's just worrying. What if something's going on that she could be helping with? Jas is so different, and it saddens her sometimes, the thought that the sweet child that used to bake cakes with her and get powered sugar all over her face has been replaced with a moody near-stranger that tries to pierce her own ears and calls her Marnie at the best of times. Never Aunt Marnie, anymore. 

Well, at least there's one thing to keep her mind off her troubles, and that's that Shane's the happiest he's ever been. The farmer that moved into town about five years ago now (Yoba, has it been that long?) proposed to him just the week prior. Marnie's watched them go ever-so-slowly from petty enemies to friends to best friends to lovers- (she had to pretend she was surprised when they told her, like she hadn't noticed the furtive kisses and held hands and hickeys on both their necks and the.. noises that occasionally came through the walls of Shane's room.) 

She'll never forget that day, when Shane came bursting into the ranch soaked to the bone from the summer monsoon raging outside, tears in his eyes and the widest smile she'd ever seen on his face, wordlessly showing her the bright blue seashell necklace around his neck. She knows full well that Shane's responsible for all the improvement he's had, and she's so proud of him for getting sober and finding some sort of joy in life, but she can't help being greatful to her neighbor for helping him as much as they did. They really are perfect for each other. 

The wedding's supposed to be early this autumn, and Shane's already started moving his things to the farmer's cabin. She knows he'll be just down the road, but, selfishly, she can't help feeling a little sad that he'll be gone. Worried, too. What with her getting older, and Shane going to live with the farmer, she's concerned about the future of the ranch. She'll live much longer, she's sure of it, but the work's starting to get harder, and soon it'll be too much. Maybe she can hire someone to help her work, but who would want to? The looming threat that she tries not to think about is the possibility that she might have to sell the ranch, soon, to ensure she'll have an easy retirement, but the very thought makes her heart ache. Her family's owned this ranch for generations. She can't give it up just like that. 

She doesn't even dare ask Jas about helping around the ranch. She's always thrown fits about doing chores, even when she was young, and now her disdain for Marnie and the ranch itself is apparent in every sentence she speaks. They've just finished an argument that ended, as always, with the girl storming out of the house, yelling over her shoulder that she's going to Vincent's house. No surprise. She practically lives there now.

Marnie sighs, frazzled, and sits down on a stool in the chicken coop, smiling as one of the blue chickens hops over and clucks at her quietly. She picks up the bird and places it in her lap, giving it a few pets and trying to relax before startling as she hears the landline jangle one room over, placing the fowl back in the straw and quickly walking into the house to answer the call. It's Jodi, and- ah. Of course. Jas asked to stay for a sleepover again, and she wants to make sure it's alright with Marnie.

Sighing, she gives her consent, asking Jodi to tell her niece to be back by lunchtime tomorrow, though she doesn't entirely expect that request to be filled. It's alright, having the house to herself sometimes is a little nice! She's got some knitting to get done, anyway. Sighing and shooing one of the chickens that's wandered in back outside, she settles into her armchair in her room, glancing out the window with a soft hum. Everything will turn out just fine. That's what she'll tell herself. 

\---

Jas cups her friend's face in her hand as she ever-so-carefully applies lipstick in a nice pinkish-red color, pulling back a little to judge her work before dabbing the excess off with a neat square of paper towel. It's been a few months since Vincent, her best friend since before she could speak, told her in hushed tones under their favorite climbing tree that he might not be a he. Jas took to it like a duck to water, remembering to only call her female pronouns in private, since they hadn't told her parents yet, but otherwise never faltering. She hasn't decided on a name, she told Jas- Vincent's still fine for now, if she needs to call her something. She'd been anxious to remind her that she's not any different; not a new person at all, still just her best friend Vincent. Vincent but a girl. 

With a few more movements of the mascara brush, she smiles and pulls back again, snapping shut the makeup case she had smuggled in from her room. "You look beautiful." Secretly, Jas thinks she looks beautiful all the time, even yesterday when she got too adventurous climbing a tree and scraped her knee up so bad it bled, but that sort of thing is way too embarrassing to just say. Vincent smiles toothily, and they sit together in her dim bedroom, holding hands and admiring each other. "You do too! Probably more then me, you have better practice putting makeup on yourself then on other people." Jas just scoffs and elbows her, and takes out the hairbrush she brought with the makeup, starting to work the knots out of her jaw-length strawberry-blonde hair. 

She's thinking to herself about nothing in particular before a smile breaks out across her face, setting down the brush and putting a hand on Vincent's knee. "Hey, I thought of a good name idea!" She perks up- they haven't found one that fits perfectly quite yet, but she always likes to hear Jas's ideas. "What about.. Violet? Because it starts with V, just like your old name, and it's a flower like mine! We can both be flowers, then. Jasmine and Violet. Jas and Vi?" The smile's back, only it's wider this time, expression bright and excited. "Jas, I love it! It's perfect!" 

They spend the rest of the evening tucked away in Violet's bedroom, Jas occasionally venturing out to grab snacks, gossiping about the other kids and watching TV, and after a few hours, their hands creep towards each other's again until they bump fingers and then hold each other's hands tightly. They keep holding hands until well after they've both gone to sleep.

**Author's Note:**

> Hey, I hope you like this so far! The idea really grabbed me, I just had to start writing it. Jas and Violet are somewhere between fourteen and sixteen in this, and the Farmer is intentionally left very vague. The title and the lyrics at the beginning are from The Give by Thao & The Get Down Stay Down. More chapters coming soon, hopefully.


End file.
